Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s medical condition has worsened in recent days and he may be nearing death, the director of the hospital where he is being treated said Friday.

Sharon, who has been hospitalized in Tel Aviv in a coma for eight years, is suffering from blood infection and kidney failure, and doctors say he is too weak to receive dialysis treatments. Hospital director Zeev Rotstein said Friday that doctors remain hopeful despite his deteriorating condition, but conceded that his days were numbered, Haaretz reports.

“He is fighting like a real warrior, like he did throughout his life,” Rotstein said.